small infinities
by SouthSideStory
Summary: It was you, from the beginning to the end and all the small infinities in between. A heart like yours could only be fitted to a heart like mine. It was you, always. (SasuSaku drabble collection)
1. these are the words

**these are the words**

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* * *

There's a message written between the lines of his ribs, a mark that makes his heart one half of a whole. Nine little words that will change his life.

Sasuke has read his brand a thousand times, traced the sleek curves and sharp edges of the kanji tattooed on his skin in infinite ink. A thousand times, and still, when the moment comes, he fails to recognize its meaning right away.

 _Don't leave me! If you go, I'll scream, and_ —

He's standing behind Sakura, ready to deliver the blow that will steal her consciousness, when it hits him: these are the words he's been waiting to hear for thirteen years, the truth that unravels the mystery of his soulmate. Not that it's been much of a mystery since the Forest of Death.

Sasuke watches the night breeze ruffle Sakura's hair, teasing him with a shifting view of the nape of her neck. The frail neck where he should strike, now, to make her world go black. She wasn't lying; she'll do whatever it takes to hold him here, blocking his path to revenge before he's even taken his first true step.

Sasuke thanks her, because she deserves his gratitude, and far more, for everything that she's done for him. He can hear the whisper of leaves on the wind, the softness of her ragged breaths, the weight of her world-changing words between them.

Sakura is his, and he's hers in return. It matters, it matters so much because this is the only guaranteed love that Sasuke has—and even though he suspected it before, he _knows_ it now—

He knocks Sakura out, holds her, lays her gently on an unforgiving stone bench. He takes a moment to touch the tears still wet on her cheeks, to drink in the sight of her. It's a mistake to cling, even for a moment, to a life he's walking away from. But Sasuke can't begrudge himself this one indulgence, because it's the last he'll allow.

* * *

He hides his brand under layers of bandages. Sasuke tells himself that he covers it because reminders of home are distracting, but the truth is that he can't bear to look at what's written on his skin: Sakura's last words to him.

 _Don't leave me_ , she said, but the choice to stay was taken from him long ago.

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	2. our loss is only time

**our loss is only time**

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"Oh, c'mon. Smile, Sasuke-kun!"

His expression remains unimpressed, but he allows Sakura to take a picture anyway. A bright flash fills the room, and then her mother's old camera spits out a freshly developed photo, Sasuke's face serious, sharp with fond annoyance.

(And here is the truth they both know: he never tolerates anything if he doesn't want to do it.)

The picture is better this way, Sakura decides. It shows Sasuke, her Sasuke, as he really is.

* * *

The day before he set out, Sasuke took a picture of Sakura. In it, her smile is gentle, her eyes soft but sad. She was missing him already, he realizes. Missing him before he'd even left.

Now Sasuke carries the photo with him wherever he goes, a loving weight in his pocket, to remind him of important things. Why he's on this journey, and the kind of man he hopes to be when he returns: the kind Sakura deserves.

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 **AN:** I created two photo edits to represent the pictures described in this drabble. They can be found at my graphics masterpost on my tumblr, where I'm also southsidestory.


	3. someday

**someday**

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* * *

It hurts, being near him again after so many years apart. Sakura remembers the night he left with the perfect, precise detail of a pain she'll never forget: the taste of tears on her tongue; Konoha, grown quiet under the starlit sky; Sasuke's voice, cold and dismissive, when she begged him not to go; and then, gentler, _thank you_.

Now he's leaving again, setting out on a journey that will take him who-knows-where for an indeterminate time, and Sakura wishes, wishes with everything in her, that for once he could just _stay_. Or failing that, take her with him.

So she asks, at the last moment, when fear propels her to one final surge of bravery. Standing at the village gates, Sakura opens her heart one more time.

Apparently she has nothing to do with his sins, and it's a kind way of saying _no_ , but it's a _no_ nonetheless-

Then he pokes her on the forehead, and Sakura knows what that means. Sasuke told her about Itachi, in the dark of his bedroom, where they only had the courage to hold hands and talk about the future in vague, uncertain terms: _when I come back_ and _when we're ready_ , all of it crying out _someday but not today_. Now, when Sasuke smiles at her and shares the most loving gesture of his childhood, suddenly _someday_ is enough.

It hurts, still, to lose him again, but in a softer way that promises happiness down the line.

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End file.
